Jonathan Rosenblum recently wrote sent out a column from the Yated Ne'eman (June 6, 2008). The conclusion of the column was the following.
The Good Guys Win
[...]
WHAT LESSONS CAN WE TAKE AWAY from this happy result? The first is that we should not abandon any playing field to our enemies, even when there are good reasons to suspect that it is not a level one and the chances of victory are slight. Community organizer Saul Alinsky once said, "Immoral enemies make stupid mistakes." And Enderlin's insistence on bringing a libel suit, even though the charges against his broadcast had gained almost no traction in the mainstream media (MSM) is one example.
A second lesson is that alternative sources of information have dealt a huge blow to the former monopoly of the MSM. We in the frum community tend to think of the blogosphere exclusively as a cesspool of character assassination and worse. But in many places in the world it is also a vital agent for freedom from oppressive dictatorships. Some of the greatest heroes on earth are anonymous bloggers in places like Iran and China casting a searching light on the leaders of their own societies. Dictatorships can no longer completely silence and terrorize their critics.
Nor is the salutary influence of alternate sources of information felt only in dictatorships. In the West as well, the oligopoly of the Left over elite humanities and social science faculties and the MSM has been largely broken by conservative think tanks and alternative news sources.
The French MSM paid almost no attention to Phillippe Karsenty or even Enderlin's libel action, at least until Enderlin's victory in the lower court. Only then did it proclaim Enderlin's vindication. And it is similarly downplaying the Court of Appeals decision.
Here is a blog about the news you won't find on CNN.
ReplyDeleteThere is an excellent history of Christian Zionism posted there in 5 parts.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4959.htm
Jersey Girl is like the dog that can't let go of the bone.
ReplyDeleteLike a McArthyite who saw "communists" everywhere, she sees a great Christian plot against Israel via "Zionism" which not only must lead to question her general judgment with its obsessive and paranoid focus on the Christian/Zionist ruining the an ideal Torah world, but one wonders if she has ever read any other kind of history and politics, such as how Socialism and Bolshevism have influenced Zionism far more than any Christian idea or notions.
Give us all a break Jersey Girl and learn some new tunes, you are getting to sound very boring and silly.
RaP:It is well known that Zionism is a Christian theology.
ReplyDeleteA definition of Zionism is "The movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland." There is nothing atheistic about Zionism. Atheists do not believe in the Bible and therefore would have no reason to exploit the Biblical promise of the Holyland to Jews.
It is only Christianity which reads the Written Law without the benefit of the Oral Law that could come up with the theology that would birth the concept of Modern Zionism.
For Christians who interpret the bible in a literal fashion, Zionism has a crucial role to play in bringing on the Second Coming of Christ.
In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries British and American Puritans began writing about G-d's plan to restore the Jews to their homeland. These were the early Zionists. Their writings were based on the Abrahamic Covenant from Genesis of the Old Testament written more than 3,800 years ago:
(Genesis 12:2) (Genesis 12:7)(Genesis 35:12)
The Christian Zionist project became political reality when Arthur Balfour proclaimed in his famous "Declaration" of 1917 that Palestine become the homeland for the Jewish people. He believed a modern state of Israel was part of the divine plan announced in Old Testament prophetic literature. (Canadian Dimensions, March/April, 2003).
The Balfour Declaration asserted the British Government's support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and was endorsed by a number of other countries, including the United States. The Balfour Declaration became more important following World War I, when the League of Nations passed the Palestine Mandate, assigning the United Kingdom power to administrate Palestine.
In 1985, the Christian Zionist Congress urged Israel to annex the West Bank, with its near one million Palestinian inhabitants. An Israeli Jew, seated in the audience, rose and pointed out that an Israeli poll showed that one-third of the Israelis would be willing to trade territory seized in 1967 for peace with the Palestinians.
"We don't care what the Israelis vote!" declared van der Hoeven [spokesman for the International Christian Embassy]. We care what God says! And God gave that land to the Jews!" After his impassioned outburst, the Christians by a nearly unanimous show of hands passed the resolution. (Grace Halsell, Prophecy and Politics, p.133)
A recent survey reported in Beliefnet found:
.. over one-third of those Americans who support Israel report that they do so because they believe the Bible teaches that the Jews must possess their own country in the Holy Land before Jesus can return.
It is also well known that Herzl's family converted to Christianity:
"Herzl's Number One Advisor
The modern Jewish founder of Zionism is recognized to have been Theodor Herzl. His earliest and closest adviser just happened to have been the Christian minister William Hechler who was a zealous Christian Zionist. In 1882 he had published his book entitled The Restoration of the Jews to Palestine according to Prophecy.24 In 1896 Hechler introduced himself to Herzl and thus became his most important aid, advisor and advocate. It was said, "William Hechler would prove to be 'not only the first, but the most constant and the most indefatigable of Herzl's followers'".25
A Baptist from Missouri, President Harry S. Truman was influenced by his Christian background regarding his decision to recognize Israel in 1948, when he rejected the advice of the State Department not to recognize the newly formed state. After his presidency, his longtime Jewish friend Eddie Jacobson introduced Truman to a group of professors by saying, "'This is the man who helped create the state of Israel,' but Truman corrected him: 'What do you mean "helped to create"? I am Cyrus. I am Cyrus.'"26 Truman was comparing himself to Persian King Cyrus in the Old Testament who enabled the Jews to return to their land in the sixth century B. C. after their 70-year captivity.
24 Paul C. Merkley, The Politics of Christian Zionism: 1891-1948(London, Frank Cass, 1998), p. 3.
25 Merkley, Politics of Christian Zionism, p. 25.
26 Merkley, Politics of Christian Zionism, p. 191.
Here is more:
http://www.zionism-israel.com/christian_zionism/Christian_Zionism_History_Ice.html
Here is another important reference:
Douglas J. Culver, Albion and Ariel: British Puritanism and the Birth of Political Zionism (New York: Peter Lang, 1995
Michael J. Pragai, Faith and Fulfilment: Christians and the Return to the Promised Land (London: Vallentine, Mitchell, 1985